(KevinP rejoins us with another edition of his short-interview series, and this time he talks with Jacobo Córdova, the man behind one of our favorite bands — Majestic Downfall, whose stunning new album is out now and can be heard at the end of the interview.)

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K: So this is the third year in a row with a full-length album worth of material. How have you been able to pull this off?

J: I guess the reason why the band is so active is that I really like writing music and I do it as a very disciplined thing. It is a one-man job where I can decide when to do things, however I want to, without anyone on my back. I do have to say, that this time it was a bit harder than previously, since I incorporated a lot of new sounds into the music without caring or giving importance to where they came from.

K: If you found it harder to write this time around BUT you didn’t worry about what you incorporated, wouldn’t that actually make it easier, being free of restrictions?

J: Yes and no.Yes in the creative department, where as long as it sounded good I would work with it and incorporate it into the songs. No in the aspect of making such different ideas flow together in a smooth and cohesive way. That is what made me struggle more. I hate pasting riffs together without any relation.

K: Two things that jump out at me when I listen to this: First, while you still have plenty of doomy parts, I feel you’ve outgrown the classification of death/doom and migrated over to just death metal. Second, the production has a much more live feel to it. Was this just a coincidence with the band performing their first ever live shows this year?

J: Regarding the first part of the question, I would definitely say that it is still a Death/Doom album but this time more heavily on the Death part. This is an aspect that I have been exploring more and more as the band´s sound has evolved.

About the recording, there is no relation between the band becoming a live band and the production with a more live vibe. The actual reference for the band’s new “sound” was definitely Anathema´s Serenades album. I sent Tore at Necromorbus the songs and asked him, “What do you get when listening to this? How do you want it to sound?”, and he replied, “I think we can make Anathema’s Serenades our point of reference”. The great part is that I was about to tell him the exact same thing.

K: How did you finally decide to bring Majestic Downfall forth as a live band after all these years?

J: This one was actually unexpected, just as the song (if you have heard the Temple of Guilt album).

I was driving to the airport to pick up my wife and since it is a three-hour drive from my hometown to Mexico City, I started wandering and as always, the first things that pop into my mind are either my family or music-related stuff. I started giving thought to the idea of playing live with Majestic Downfall since I already do it with Zombiefication and I finally felt the urge to do it.

Alfonso, the drummer that has helped me always, told me every time we met that he wanted to play live, but I was never into that with this band. But that day, in that trip and at that time, it just made sense. By the time I got to the airport, I had already called the people I thought were ideal for the project and two weeks later we already had four songs ready.

I have to add that the other three members of the band live two hours away from Querétaro, where I live, so they rehearse on their own and when I have the opportunity I go there to rehearsals. It has worked great and I could not be more thankful to those guys.